Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PYSCHE BORNE BY ZEPHYRS TO THE ISLAND OF PLEASURE, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PYSCHE BORNE BY ZEPHYRS TO THE ISLAND OF PLEASURE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fearfully and mournfully
Last Line: In a brighter world to dwell.
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Psyche (mythology)


FEARFULLY and mournfully
Thou biddst the earth farewell;
And yet thou'rt passing, loveliest one!
In a brighter land to dwell.

Ascend, ascend rejoicing!
The sunshine of that shore
Around thee, as a glorious robe,
Shall stream forevermore.

The breezy music wandering
There through the Elysian sky,
Hath no deep tone that seems to float
From a happier time gone by.

And there the day's last crimson
Gives no sad memories birth,
No thought of dead or distant friends,
Or partings -- as on earth.

Yet fearfully and mournfully
Thou biddst that earth farewell,
Although thou'rt passing, loveliest one!
In a brighter land to dwell.

A land where all is deathless --
The sunny wave's repose,
The wood with its rich melodies,
The summer and its rose:

A land that sees no parting,
That hears no sound of sighs,
That waits thee with immortal air --
Lift, lift those anxious eyes!

Oh! how like thee, thou trembler!
Man's spirit fondly clings
With timid love, to this, its world
Of old familiar things!

We pant, we thirst for fountains
That gush not here below!
On, on we toil, allured by dreams
Of the living water's flow:

We pine for kindred natures
To mingle with our own;
For communings more full and high
Than aught by mortal known:

We strive with brief asprings
Against our bonds in vain;
Yet summoned to be free at last,
We shrink -- and clasp our chain;

And fearfully and mournfully
We bid the earth farewell,
Though passing from its mists, like thee,
In a brighter world to dwell.





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